‘Economic Baba’—Is This a Satisfactory Explanation of Why African Parents Value Schooling?

Abstract

A Central question in African education, almost since the time the first schools were established by missionaries and colonial governments, has been the importance of making education relevant to the needs of the developing areas, rather than offering only an academic education transplanted from Europe. As early as 1847, for example, the British Colonial Office received a comprehensive memorandum on education which included a number of suggestions for providing practical training in schools in the colonies. Among the specific steps proposed were the establishment of industrial and farm schools, with the inclusion of agriculture, stock management, and land surveying in the curricula of teacher-training institutions.1